Page 12

Her Love

A fter allowing him to send that message through her phone, Tess didn’t let either of them check to see if Avril responded for the next several hours. Ultimately, Liam couldn’t mind too much. After all, the prizes Tess claimed more than distracted him from waiting to see how Avril would reply. Would she even understand what that message meant?

It was an answer he’d end up waiting on far longer than he would have expected. In the throes of passion with Tess, who pulled him up to her bedroom for the entire course of their Valentine’s Day lovemaking, thoughts of Avril’s anticipated response fled to the back of his mind. With the woman of his dreams urging him on, Liam pushed his sexual stamina to their limits.

The final round of this raucous string of lovemaking began with Tess wiggling her hips seductively at him as he sat in a heap on her floor—they’d ended up moving off her bed pretty quickly, all things considered. He’d thought himself drained by the three rounds they’d already gone before then, unable to get up from the ground, much less reviving his cock’s stiffness.

A stupid thought. The sight of Tess, covered in sweat, blue eyes burning salaciously, beckoning him to rise, had revived him as surely as a shot of adrenaline. Climbing to his feet, gelatinous muscles wobbling dangerously, he’d aligned his cock to her tight, cum-soaked pussy and fucked her from behind until they both collapsed under the weight of their final shared orgasm of the night.

And that, at long last, was enough for them both.

“I feel thoroughly satisfied,” Tess whispered. They’d both rolled onto their sides, facing one another as they lay on her bed, which had a serious need for a change in sheets. Just as the two of them desperately needed showers. And some serious hydration. Even as Liam smiled in response, he felt how cracked and dry his throat felt. The water in him was now outside, sticking to his skin, much of it dried. Too much. It left him feeling physically exhausted and feeling a little gross.

It was barely a blip on his radar, however. The emotional joy within him was practically bursting.

“For a Valentine’s Day that isn’t on Valentine’s Day,” Tess continued, reaching out a hand to cup his cheek, “it might just be my favorite.”

“Until next year’s,” Liam said.

“Which might also be on a weekday,” Tess said, chuckling. “I’ll have to get used to these alternative Valentine’s Days. For a little while, at least.”

The urge to confide in Tess nearly overwhelmed all the hard work he’d been putting in to keep things about his future a secret. Just to see how her eyes might light up, he nearly broke his silence. Yet, it was too premature, not the gleeful surprise he envisioned. So, through great effort, he kept his secret concealed.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky, and it’ll be on a weekend day. So it can be proper.”

“I don’t mind, either way,” Tess said, leaning forward to kiss his lips. Both of theirs were dry and slightly cracked. They’d gone too long—how many hours had it been since she’d pulled him into her bedroom?—without taking a break. “Our relationship is hardly proper, anyhow. So, I’m prepared for more unique… situations.”

Liam stared into her eyes, wondering what exactly she was referring to. The two of them, or was it about Avril, or might it even be about what he’d revealed earlier about Victoria? Any of them, all the above? He couldn’t quite tell, and Tess changed the subject before he could think to ask her.

“It’s nice being with someone with your libido and stamina,” she said, kissing him again. “Your willingness to learn, too. It’s oddly thrilling, teaching… this. ”

Liam grinned from ear to ear. “I’m happy to be in your class, Professor Williams.”

Snorting, Tess rolled him onto his back, then climbed atop him. Apparently, she still had some reserves of stamina to call upon. Liam wasn’t sure if he did. But that was fine. He still had over a month left before Fiji. More time to learn, more time to work out, more time to impress.

Hovering her mouth over his, Tess’s eyes swirled with mischievous lust and earnest affection. Her teeth gleamed white as she broke into a broad smile, and then they kissed again. Romantic elation blossomed in a room that had gone so many years without. Like the winter defrosting into spring, joy bloomed. And Liam didn’t ever intend to let winter back in.

“You’re my one and only star pupil,” Tess whispered, moving her mouth to his neck. “There, happy?”

“Endlessly,” he whispered back, taking hold of one of her wrists. He maneuvered her warm palm to his warmer chest, and Tess spread her fingers. The rapid drumbeat she felt beneath his ribs was the only sound in the room for several seconds.

Nuzzling her cheek against his, Tess kissed his neck, her smile unseen but felt on his skin. Her joy. And her love.

Physically exhausted though they might be, their emotional highs persisted for the rest of the night. They removed dirty sheets, and then, for no sensible reason, both went downstairs and put them into the laundry together. As they showered, allowing weary muscles and sweat-stained skin to receive the relief of warm water and cleansing soap, he loved her. As they shared a very late dinner of whatever could be thrown together without much effort, during which Liam briefly saw that Avril hadn’t yet responded in the group chat, he loved her. As they threw on the new sheets, eyeing one another across the bed, he loved her. And as they climbed under the covers together, where their hands and mouths relinked for a long while, yes, he still loved her.

They didn’t separate by more than a few feet for that entire time. Never once did they lose sight of each other. As if invisible tethers bound them, they stayed near one another. Neither addressed it; they just accepted it as a new law of the universe. Like gravity, you didn’t try to oppose its existence. You just let it be.

Liam Carr and Tess Williams let their love be. It didn’t need to be mentioned tonight. They both felt it. It lasted right up until two thoroughly exhausted souls closed their eyes for some much-needed sleep and recovery.

It was still there when their eyes opened the next morning.